June 10, 2017
Hello and welcome to my blog!
This will mark my second summer in the
Capitol, and boy, I cannot imagine a more interesting time to live in this
city. So much has changed since I was last here, and as a student eager to
engage in an energetic political climate, I could not have picked a better
scene to join.
Last
summer, I was an intern at the Department of Education where I worked with
passionate public servants dedicated to the tall task of investing in the youth
of this country. This time around, I will be joining a team of scholars at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). My switch from government to
academic definitely stems from my recent abroad experiences. In the fall of 2016, I studied in Serbia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina which sparked my interest in political science-related
research. I had an amazing month in Banja Luka at the end of the semester where
I conducted an independent research project focused on postwar identity
politics in the ethnically cleansed capital of Republika Srpska. My time in the
Western Balkans strongly encouraged me to pursue another research-focused
experience, which is why a summer at the USHMM sounded so appealing. After my
first week at the museum, I am confident that I made the right choice, and
certainly excited about the nine weeks to come.
On my first day at the museum, I was able to join in on a workshop with
professors from around the country who were eager to learn more about the ways
in which they could incorporate digital humanities into their Holocaust-related
material. It was the first day of a two week long workshop, so it was
definitely a busy day for the Mandel Center at the museum. I was also
pleasantly greeted by Professor Wendy Lower who I had not seen for a little
over a year due of my semester abroad and her time working in D.C. I cannot
say enough how nice it was to see a familiar face, as I was definitely missing
the West Coast just a bit.
A great deal of my week focused on attending this workshop with these
professors which was rewarding for a handful of reasons. For starters, I believe
the professors appreciated having an undergraduate student in the room to
bounce ideas off of when brainstorming the effectiveness of certain aspects of digital
humanities. The professors were often tasked with projects drafting digital
humanities tools, and it was nice to have a student to participate when measuring the success of these projects. Also, there were several sessions throughout the week
designed to teach the professors how to use the resource tools in the museum’s
library and archives. I benefited from these immensely, as I plan on conducting
my own independent research project while here and would love to be a (novice)
expert at navigating the archives by the time I leave.
And finally, many of the lectures during this week of the workshop
allowed me to continue considering the question of positionality regarding research. The question of bias and/or the
specific aspects of my particular identity that contribute to the nature of my
research was something seriously stressed by my professors while I was abroad.
They were adamant about having us be aware of what specific aspects of our
identity would shape our reflections and conclusions as we studied the breakup
of Yugoslavia. How would being a woman, or being from an ethnically-diverse community,
or being Catholic, shape the way I think about the topic of identity politics
in Bosnia, for example? The question of positionality was something discussed
at length in several of the week’s lectures, which I appreciated a great deal. Those
conversations keep me on my toes, especially in this period before I pick a
research topic while here at the museum.
From my first week at the museum, I have a broad understanding of the
work I will be engaged for the duration of the summer. A portion of my time will be dedicated to
larger research projects in which much of the Mandel team is engaged in.
Another portion will probably heavily revolve around attending workshops and
seminars very similar to that in which I participated in this week, as the
museum hosts a great deal of these events for grad students, fellows, and
professors, all year round, especially during
the summer. These will be particularly fun for me and will potentially serve as
great networking experiences, as well. Finally, I would like to dedicate a serious
amount of my time to an independent research project while at the museum. Having
access to the archives at the USHMM is an opportunity I do not intend to dismiss. In the coming weeks, I would like to familiarize
myself with the library and brainstorm ideas so that I may begin a postwar
research project to busy myself with while here at the museum.
Stay tuned for events to come! I
intend to participate in as many events as possible held by the museum, nearby
think tanks, and the Hill, if permitted. It should be an exciting (and perhaps
scandalous, impeachment-filled) few months!
Until next week!
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